Saigon Kitchen

Had Pho Tai Gau for 14usd. Good portion of beef and sweet yummy broth. It’s just the noodles are bit tangled together yet it’s good enough. Also especially appreciate they provide Chinese chili oil. Def would come again when I crave pho

Really friendly service and the food was great—fresh, tasty, and well put together.

Food 4.25/5 Service 4.5/5 Ambiance 3.5/5 Very decent pho for this area!! Enjoyed the house special pho a lot! But the viet ice coffee was not so good. It tasted very instant and way too sweet The stir fry pork with vermicelli was great too! The pork was tender and sweet.

I love Pho Beef, It's so delicious. Delicious food, inexpensive, good value.

We are pho snobs, but occasionally like to try new places. Passing through Ithaca looking for something to eat while our duck is at Cornell for surgery, we needed something to cheer us up. This is a no frills restaurant, don’t expect fancy decor etc. but the food… fantastic! We both had Pho Gau and found the meat to be superior to many pho restaurants. The portion is huge as expected and the aromatics were strong but not overwhelming. We had pan fried potstickers for an appetizer. I don’t know what magic they weave with them, but it was the best pan fry I’ve had, nice crisp but not burnt, just perfect. Highly recommend!!

recently ordered food here because I heard great things about this restaurant. But I found hair in my food not once but twice. Completely unacceptable. Never coming back here again..

I have had consistently great food here for years. Having lived in NYC for over a decade (I am a native Ithaca who just moved back to town), I have had some excellent pho, and Saigon Kitchen's completely stands up to it. The ambience is nice, the service is fast and friendly, and dining in is family friendly (we have a 1.5 year-old and have been bringing her since she was an infant). Whether dining in or taking out, Saigon Kitchen is the best Vietnamese food in town.

Broth is a little bit salty but it has rich flavor! fried rice is good, too. There are no parking so I had trouble to find some space. Food is really nice.

Great food, typical Vietnamese menu with Pho plus some others. Great service, fast and polite. No loud music or tv screens all over. Tables for 4 standard. Didn't ask if they would move tables for bigger parties.

Food 4.25/5 Service 4.5/5 Ambiance 3.5/5 Very decent pho for this area!! Enjoyed the house special pho a lot! But the viet ice coffee was not so good. It tasted very instant and way too sweet The stir fry pork with vermicelli was great too! The pork was tender and sweet.

I had almost written Saigon Kitchen off. I know they are under new ownership and were getting their feet. Still, I eat there! The food wasn't bad it just wasn't what it was when they first opened ... 2013? I'm happy to report that we went in on Friday and I was amazed at the quantity, the quality of fresh ingredients and the generous good flavors. I got my fav, the vegetable-tofu vermicelli with spring rolls. My partner got pho chay and we shared fresh summer rolls. All excellent. My dish even had a nice pile of napa-based salad, a nice new crunchy addition. It was the best meal I've had there in years. Keep at it!

Good food, but charged twice for order and staff made no effort to fix or apologize. Website is terrible.

Really cozy place in Ithaca! The service is fast, and staff are very attentive. I love their beef stew which has such a deep and rich broth that clings onto the noodles in every bite. The beef is also extremely tender as are the carrots. The portion is large and is typically good for 2-3 meals for me. I've also tried their House Pho which also has perfectly cooked noodles and a flavorful broth. Their grilled beef platter, however, was a bit more disappointing. The beef was overcooked and a bit thin and tough. Overall, a good experience, and I have come back several times. Definitely a good spot when you're craving Vietnamese food here in Ithaca.

Initially doubtful of this place despite good reviews since it was located a little away from Ithaca Commons, the ambience changed my mindset about it. Glad the menu was very detailed with vegetarian options and a separate section for vegan dishes. My order: Classic pho Fried rice Veggie Summer roll jasmine tea The pho was really amazing. Glad they didn't crowd the bowl with length sprouts and they were served on the side. That was the best part! Loved the broth and it was amalgamated with flavors. The fried rice was large in quantity and served two very well. The summer rolls were yummy but a little on the blander side. Accompanied by the peanut sauce, it was out of the world. Jasmine tea was like a cherry on the top, and you could never go wrong with it. It was only $2 for such a large pot of tea!! Never miss this gem! They gave us an umbrella to walk to our car due to heavy rain. Nice people!

A highly recommended Vietnamese place that certainly did not disappoint. Unlike most Vietnamese restaurants that specialize in pho (their pho was quite good, with a very rich broth!), the other traditional dishes definitely stole the show for us. The Honey Lemongrass Vermicelli had a great balance between the soft vermicelli, the tasty beef, and the tangy sauce. The beef stew was also a stand-out dish, with a very flavourful yet not too salty broth. The restaurant is quaint and cute, and service was great and attentive too! Would definitely come back!

Usual pho restaurant I thought. Service was attentive and a good pho place to stop in to while in Ithaca. A bit hot in the restaurant for the summer but that's nothing unusual for a noodle soup shop in the summer. Cheers pho now.

Great, authentic vietnamese cuisine. The soups are all tasty. Service is excellent. I would come back.

A great casual eatery that won't break the bank with delicious traditional Viet food. The Pho's are great. The broth is the most important part of the dish and they have a good one. Stop in if you're in the area if you want a quick delicious meal.

Excellent Vietnamese food with great flavor. Service was excellent and the restaurant is a small place with a warm and inviting feel. It's definitely a must goto!

My first time trying Saigon Kitchen was by takeout and I ordered online through their website. Even eating at home, I was impressed with the flavor. I loved that their takeout packaging was organized and the fact that the bowl they give you fits the soup and noodles so no need to search for bowls big enough at home. I ordered the house pho and my bf got the chicken pho. I also ordered the spring rolls for which you can choose your protein so I went with shrimp. My pho had plenty of meat and they didn't skimp out on the veggies and there was plenty of onions and cilantro which I love. The broth had so much flavor and wasn't missing anything. The spring rolls were the perfect contrast and were very fresh. I definitely want to try eating there next time because it was pretty busy when I went to pick up my order. Their restaurant does not have a parking lot so be prepared to search for street parking.

Great pho and service. The meat arguably was a little less than expected but for the price I would ok it! Broth was solid.

Was visiting a friend at Cornell when we decided to grab dinner at Saigon Kitchen. I was pleased with the service because they were very accommodating of our party size (7 people) even though they were pretty busy. The service was great as we were constantly attended to with getting our waters refilled and our order taken. I honestly wasn't expecting much from the food, but it was surprisingly good. Overall, I enjoyed my experience here and would recommend it if you are looking to eat Vietnamese food in the area.

Long time no Yelp! Came through on a trip up north. The service is good, the ambiance is okay, and the food is okay. Overall, it was okay.

Used to come here all the time while I was living in ithaca. It was definitely what I remembered. I remember it being so good, but since we live in nyc, I've been spoiled with more authentic Vietnamese food. They offer indoor seating now! Can dine inside! We ordered the summer roll, which did not taste very fresh. It had lettuce and shrimp inside. This is something that shouldn't go wrong, but it just wasn't that good. Ordered the house special beef pho, which was good. The broth was flavorful, but the beef slices many of them had pieces of fat. Not very healthy. Also ordered the chicken vermicelli. They completely forgot my order! It arrived at the end after hubby finished the beef pho! This dish was just so plain. Vermicelli with dry chicken pieces. Overall was just a mediocre experience.

Haven't been to Saigon Kitchen in a while but I was in the neighborhood and figured I would check them out. Oh, what a good decision! I had the home made pot stickers, steamed, and then a bowl of "beef stew" (really oxtail, I think) pho. The pho was sensational, just so flavorful! I have no idea how they concentrate so much umami and flavor but wow... just spicy enough for a slight tingle, with a very aromatic, almost heady perfume, and packed with végétales ahd noodles plus a generous amount of beef. Just great! Fast service in a nice but not fancy room. Five stars for the food, three for ambience, four for service...

Very good family owned restaurant! The food was flavorful and the service was very quick and easy. Very good- Beef Stew (great flavor, meat was tender), Imperial Meat Rolls (fried rice paper had a wonderful crunch with great filling- ended up ordering another!), and dumpling noodle soup (good flavor but great with a bit of added chili oil and lime) Good- pot stickers were good but I'd prefer them fried a bit more so they have more of a crunch, the chicken fried rice was good but the chicken needed more seasoning, the rice was great Overall, good prices for portion sizes.

Best Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese food in Ithaca! Service is fast and accurate. Lots of staff. Even for a large group of 12 people, the food came out so fast. AND it still tastes very fresh - incredible! Restaurant is clean. Sometimes busy.

Pre covid this one of best restaurants I visited every year. Since it has fallen. Their spicy wings were amazing. Now they are just wings. Pass unless just looking for basic stuff

Excellent food and lots of great choices! Manager accommodating and service was ok. Gets very crowded go early!

Pho is super good here! Service is great and if you go during a less busy time, ambiance is good as well. Some of the tables are super close together so you can feel like you're sitting on top of another party, but if you go during less busy of a time then it's much more comfortable.

I have kept quiet about this for a while but honestly, I can't anymore. I've been eating at Saigon Kitchen for over 5 years and after the new owners took over 2 years ago, everything has gone downhill. The service is worse, the portions are stingy, and the staff are dismissive and won't do as asked. The food quality is decent, average for vietnamese, but overall, I won't keep returning if this continues. I get takeout at least twice a month and every single time I have to ask for sauce cups to be filled because they always come half full. Not a single time have they ever been filled all the way despite being asked, and I've even had staff return with 3/4 full cups refusing to fill them all the way. It's gotten to the point that every time I go in, I have to physically pull the sauces all out and ask AGAIN to get the fair portion. They also charge an extra DOLLAR for every single extra half full sauce cup. If they were full to begin with, I wouldn't need to buy extras. This scamminess is exhausting. There is less meat in the pho, less meatballs (a single halved meatball instead of multiple as there used to be and as the menu advertises), the summer rolls are smaller portions, almost all the food is smaller portions, the Thai tea now suddenly comes in a shrunken 12oz cup instead of the regular 16oz cup it has always come in, and the cheapness can't be overlooked anymore. Anything to squeeze a few more undeserved pennies out by giving stingy portions, right? It's shameful. Owner should be embarrassed scamming loyal customers out of the generous portions we have always gotten so they can line their fat pockets more.

It seems hard to find a restaurant that has Golden Crispy Noodles but this place does. Very good!! BF had fried tofu with white rice (I felt the tofu tasted freeze burnt a bit) and vegan tofu pho (he's a vegan) and he also enjoyed his. We each had mango juice but it didn't taste very fresh

We loved our meal so much, we went back the next day for lunch. The first meal, which I did remember to take a photo was incredible. We ordered the grilled pork chops. They were fantastic! So good, we had to order a second round of pork chops. Everything we ordered was bursting with flavor and fresh. We also had the caramelized eggplant. It was perfection. We ordered the pan fried pork dumplings and they were super fresh tasting. And lastly, I got the wonton soup and it hit the spot on a cold rainy day. Yumm yumm yumm! If my review was based off that one time, I would have give them 5 stars. However the next day, I tried a couple of different items and unfortunately it didn't hit the spot. The crystal shrimp dumplings were pretty awful. Didn't taste fresh at all. Also tried the lunch menu, Kung Pao tofu, again another disappointment. Small portions. I wish I had remembered to take photos. It really bothers me when they give me an enormous amount of onion and pepper ratio to actual protein and real veggies. It's such a shame. I feel as though the restaurant owners are being super cheap by loading up on fillers. Also tried tofu and veggies with brown sauce, again hardly any real veggies, like one piece of broccoli and again loaded with onions and peppers. Yuck!!!! Oh well, live and learn I suppose. I would definitely go back and order the first meal and hope it will be as delicious as it was the first time. I would never order a lunch special ever. Small portions, not worth the price.

We came here after my daughter's graduation. My husband and I got the Singapore Mei fun. It was not the clear rice noodles we were expecting, and the curry was bland. We couldn't finish the dish. My parents got the pho which was okay. My daughter got the beef stew which she said was okay too. Watch out for the bill - because for 5 people they tagged on 18% service fee. We didn't get water refill nor did anyone came by to ask us how the food was during our dining experience.

Great friendly quick staff. Pho is okay. Needs to be seasoned better. Missing onion base IMO. Should also be served hotter to the table. Appetizers: wings not great as they are very greasy, fried squid was very good perfectly cooked and seasoned. Shrimp dumplings tender and fresh. Wish they had bahn mi ! Prices are fair. excellent staff and service moved this review to a 4. Otherwise would of been a 3. The pho should be the star of the show here and just lacking that correct base and bite for a great pho. It still tasted good but really average Will return. Wonderful staff.

Was very excited to come back to the area to try Saigon Kitchen again to reminisce the good old times! My taste buds must've been refined because it wasn't as good as I remembered! However, I still recommend this place because the pho is so clean and the crispy squid is delicious. If you're in the Ithaca area, definitely stop by to support this local biz!

So long as you're aware going in that this is a place where the waiters wear sweatpants -- and for that matter tend to be, shall we say, "indifferent at best" in manner ... The food is consistently quite good though ... My personal favorites being the beef volcano -- and the flounder, which I've had at least 3 or 4 times now & has always been quite excellent ... On one recent visit I was accompanied by vegetarians, who were quite pleased with the tofu offerings

Went to pick up a to go order- the man working told me I should dye my hair because my skin looks younger than I do... and I was just picking up food. Yes, I'm younger and have grey hair- but why is that an acceptable thing to say to a complete stranger, a customer, no less. Honestly will not be coming back because of his rude comment about my appearance.

Amazing! Had fantastic pho here on a cold night last week. Service is quick and staff is polite. Delicious.

First of all I find it interesting that they are still take out only. I have been here a few times before and had enjoyed a sit down meal in a crowded restaurant. I guess they are doing enough business with takeout that they don't need to deal with the hassle of waitstaff employment. I do find that a shame though. So I haven't had the food here since winter of 2020, right before the shut down. Dinner back then was enjoyable. I remember being pleasantly surprised that the dishes tasted as good as the NY Metro area. Fast forward to this weekend. We took out the House Special Beef Pho, Tai Nam Bo Beef Pho, Honey Lemongrass Vermicelli with Chicken, Summer Rolls, Crispy Squid, Fried Pork Potstickers and Lemongrass Marinated Chicken Skewers. I forgot to take pictures as I spent a lot of time opening packaging and preparing the food for everyone to eat before the food got colder than it was. For the most part, the dishes tasted pretty good. The flavors were there. My daughter complained about an alcoholic taste to the broth but the rest of us didn't taste it. My biggest complaint will be that the skewered chicken was raw. Thankfully we were at a hotel with a microwave so I cooked it in there but then the chicken tasted dry. All in all, if you are craving Vietnamese in Ithaca and have a place to spread out for takeout then I would recommend this place. The 3 stars is because when I am in Ithaca, I am visiting so do not want to have to takeout and eat at my hotel. If we were eating at the restaurant, I would not have been busy unwrapping food, the crispy squid and potstickers would not have gotten soggy and the raw chicken would have been sent back.

An Ithaca institution! I'm a big fan of their Subgum Vermicelli, but their pho is also delicious with deep flavors and fresh herbs.

great food, good service. wide variety of food including authentic vietnamese dishes and chinese fusion. highly recommend the beef stew.

The food wasn't tasty and the service has a lot to improve. The restaurant was full and the only narrow door to the restaurant was blocked with many customers that arrived and waited to get in.

The food here is good with a large menu to choose from. The lunch menu is good and affordable, and the service is fast. Ate lunch with friends here and got our food in under 10 minutes. My friend said it was the best pho she'd ever had. Would recommend.

Amazing! I've been to Saigon Kitchen often and it never disappoints. It's usually quite crowded for good reason but I've never waited more than a few minutes for a table. Please don't expect ambiance as the environment is basic but don't let appearances fool you. The food is spectacular and it arrives quickly. I order the spicy black bean and ginger flounder as well as the grilled pork with rice every time I dine and it's savory, never over cooked, and absolutely delicious. Just be mindful that if you wish to drink, BYOB, as they do not serve alcohol. From start to finish, an authentic experience that doesn't break the bank. Highly recommend.

Extremely disappointed. This place used to be fantastic and it was nice to know there was good Pho in Ithaca and now there isn't. I don't know if the management changed or what happened but the pho broth is now a flavorless salty water. And if you don't have a good broth there's no point. Also there was no basil or sriracha included (there is a sriracha shortage so that part is understandable). But perhaps another brand of the same popular sauce could have been used. They were very nice and the service was great. Iced coffee was good. Pho was subpar. And the unfortunate thing is I know how good it used to be and it's currently a far cry from that.

they are open for in-person dining now. come over here and get the good eats. let that pho heal your life.

Authentic food at a reasonable price. Service is good and the restaurant is pleasant. Parking can be difficult.

Food was great, tasted very authentic :) I got the summer rolls, the fried rice and the house pho. Wonderful choices, broth was great!!

Phenomenal experience. We visited Labor Day weekend of 2023, had the shrimp fried rice and the sautéed Chinese eggplant. So good!

We went to this restaurant for the first time a couple of weeks ago and are disappointed that we never went there before. It is very nicely decorated which, for some reason, I didn't expect. The service was very good and prompt and the food was great. Generous portions for decent prices. The only downside is the lack of parking places but it's worth circling the block to get to eat there.

I had house special pho at this restaurant . The noodle is good. But was not that good, very dry and not tasty at all.

Long before I had stepped in, I already knew of the legend that is Saigon Kitchen. It isn't just the most Yelped restaurant in all of Ithaca, it might be just be the city's most popular establishment overall. The hype seems warranted as this place has a wait almost every night of the week. Things were no different when I arrived recently, I ended up waiting close to 35 minutes as I waited for my party to arrive. The summers are brutal. Somehow the restaurant was still stuffy, despite having two air conditioners in the wall so they decided to bust out a massive fan to help circulate some air into the shoddy ventilation. Strangely, it didn't help much. Winter suddenly sounds a lot more appealing. (#1) Service was a little spotty but generally pretty decent. I didn't really appreciate the rushing to order or the rushing of the bill, but I understand they need to turn tables to get new blood in the door constantly. I don't know if I would consider this a place to kill time by any stretch, but certainly the food can't be bad right? The food falls on the spectrum of somewhere in the middle of most of my Vietnamese cuisine experiences. Far from the worst bowl of pho I've ever had but certainly not remotely close to the best. Is it the best in Ithaca? My sneaking suspicion would be yes. Should be the bar be as high as it is in other cities? Definitely not. (#2) I semi-already knew what I was in for when I told a couple of waitresses in Vietnamese the number of people in my party and their reaction was to get the owner. Once we all sat down, I had politely asked about the menu's items since nothing was in Vietnamese and needed to confirm if certain choices were what I thought they were (#3) and got puzzled looks in return. I ignored the sections that mentioned things like "kang pao" chicken or the "spicy szechuan" or the "general chicken." We eventually settled for a couple bowls of their "House Special" an order of imperial rolls and some Viet iced coffee. Pho broth is usually the cornerstone to a good soup. This was a bit on the murky side and the cuts of meat were not as generous as I would have assumed. It was somewhat noodle heavy, which I never complain about but I know some that would. The imperial rolls were somewhat dry, but very tasty otherwise with a little helping of the sauce. The iced coffee tasted a bit watered down and was lacking on the condensed milk. All in all, I can't say I was disappointed completely. The other Vietnamese restaurants in Ithaca are borderline horrendous (#5) next to what Saigon Kitchen has to offer. I would easily come back here and probably order a few other things, such as their "Vietnamese steak" (I'm guessing bo luc lac?), the "grilled pork plate" (Maybe the com thit nuong?) and the banh hoi noodles. ____________ (#1) Can you imagine? Cold weather + warm bowl of pho = winning. (#2) There's a lot of reasons for this, but let's just say that expectations will always play a role. (#3) For example: Is the "Spicy Saigon Soup" the same thing as "Canh Chua?" I'm guessing "Imperial Roll Vermicelli" is "Bun Cha Gio" but I never want to assume. (#4) I swear, I didn't make these names up. (#5) I'm talking like the WORST I've ever had bad. I can't even begin to describe how much better Saigon Kitchen is in that regard.

Wonderful Pho, dumplings and more. Some of the tastiest soup we have ever had. Really! Take-out only right now but still dee-lish when you get it home. Came highly recommended and for good reason. Can't wait to go back.

Currently open for takeout orders only (you have to call ahead to place the order). About a 25-30 minute wait for me. Got the honey lemongrass chicken vermicelli which was so refreshing on a blazing hot day. Their mango juice boba is also really tasty and fresh. Come here if you're in Ithaca and want Vietnamese food!!!!

As a viet person coming from Orange County California, this place is pretty good. It's pretty average. Not the best, but good enough to make me feel asian again. It's way overpriced but it's worth it. I got the Pho Tai Gau and the meat is top quality. Very happy and I come here often now.

Here's a short review to say BEST WONTON SOUP IN ITHACA! My husband wasn't feeling well and I thought wonton soup might help what was ailing him. I thought about who might make the best wonton soup and tried Saigon Kitchen. WOW, so good!! The broth is flavorful and has some lemongrass, chives, and greens added to boost the flavor. The wontons are homemade with tasty filling, generously sized, and flavorful.